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Post by Taxx on Oct 26, 2017 21:58:25 GMT -5
Fernpaw sat in a sunny spot, trying to soak up as much warmth as possible, though activity would do that just as well. She glanced up and around the camp, at the cats who were beginning to rouse to begin the day's patrols and training, her gaze searching for Rushwhisker in particular.
Mildly, she wondered what he'd be teaching her today- obviously, it was up to him, and she was so new at it, there were bound to be things to learn she hadn't even guessed at. Another glance around the camp, her blue eyes lingering briefly at the medicine cats' den, wondering if Dewpaw was awake yet, before pausing at the warriors' den. Should she see if he was awake? Would that wake some cat who might have been out late? She didn't want to bother anyone- maybe she ought to just wait.
Tucking her paws beneath her body, Fernpaw waited, patiently, for her mentor to appear.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 26, 2017 23:43:14 GMT -5
Enemies surround me but the worst appear as friends.
Liars and pretenders only seek to reach their ends...
Rushwhisker lay awake in his nest for a while, staring at the tip of his tail in front of his nose without seeing it until Ashflight's tail flicked his ear as she passed him on her way out of the den. She didn't look at him, but he knew she'd meant to do it. He sighed and lifted his head, gazing out into camp after her and finally forcing himself to his paws.
As he pushed out of the warriors' den and gave a cursory glance around camp, he noticed Fernpaw sunning herself and grimaced. He hadn't been an entirely attentive mentor the past moon. Fernpaw deserved better. She had come into the Clan untainted by the past, and she was Echoshade's kit. Ears flicking back briefly, he started toward her, speaking once he was close enough for her to hear without raising his voice, “Come on. We're going fishing.”
He padded past her without stopping, heading out of camp and trusting the young she-cat to follow. He had no idea why Stormstar had given him an apprentice. Maybe the old tom hadn't noticed how he had changed, or maybe he had, and thought an apprentice would somehow make him his old self again. Either way, it had been a mistake. He thought about just telling Silverstar to find his daughter a new mentor, but.... He glanced back at the kitten, wondering briefly if she wouldn't think it was her fault, rather than his.
It was a cruel thing Stormstar had done to her, entrusting her to him. Meanwhile her sister was training with Swanfeather. His lip curled slightly as he turned back to the path before them, trudging toward the river. Rushwhisker was sure it was more than just eyesight that Stormheart was losing. Was Swanfeather corrupting Dewpaw now with her twisted ideals? How could RainClan ever be safe with a cat trained by that StarClan forsaken traitor?
His tail lashed behind him angrily and he was so lost in his thoughts he hadn't heard anything Fernpaw might have said. He forgot she was even there until they finally reached the river and he remembered where he'd been going, and why. He blinked in surprise at the water flowing by, as if he was surprised to see it there, then shook out his fur and turned to Fernpaw. He thought for a moment, but he couldn't quite remember what all he had already taught her about fishing. He swept his tail around his paws and sat at the river's edge, “Show me what you've learned so far.”
Everything is breaking, right before my eyes.
Looking in the mirror, I see someone that I don't recognize.
Taxx (So this should be fun lol)
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Post by Taxx on Oct 27, 2017 12:07:13 GMT -5
Fernpaw had spotted Rushwhisker the moment he'd appeared, her blue eyes fixing on the tom as he strode toward her and rising to her paws as he passed by, calling to her to follow, informing her they were going to fish. Great!
The young she-cat didn't skip, but her eyes brightened and she trailed after the tom without a moment's hesitation. Nor did she give voice to a multitude of questions as to what they might catch, where they were going to be fishing, or remarking on the weather or how awful the recent fire in LightningClan territory had been. Silently the two walked, but Fernpaw's gaze was searching as she padded alongside her mentor.
Something was up with him, she could see- he was normally quiet, not given to unnecessary chatter, but there was a sort of moodiness to him this morning. She caught his glance, ears pricking in case he said something, but he only turned his gaze forward again without a word. The lash of his tail brushed her flank and she faltered, her step slowing a bit in confusion, though she continued to follow, wondering if she ought to ask him if something was bothering him- but surely he didn't need a cat fresh out of the nursery trying to make him feel better.
Pausing at the stretch of river, Fernpaw stared at the water sliding past her nose and then up at Rushwhisker. Her ears and tail lifted as she began, repeating the directions he had given her in the past. "I shouldn't let my shadow fall on the water or it'll scare the fish. And the water can play tricks on my eyes, so I need to make sure to time my strike so I don't miss." The technique she knew. The doing? That was usually the part where she got anxious. What if she messed up, scared the fish to the bottom of the river and ruined the hunt completely?
@zen
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Post by Deleted on Oct 28, 2017 14:07:55 GMT -5
Enemies surround me but the worst appear as friends.
Liars and pretenders only seek to reach their ends...
Rushwhisker listened to her parrot back some of the things he'd already told her and nodded. She listened, at least. But knowing the details about how to do something and transforming that knowledge into practical application was another thing altogether. They had been working on technique, but as he began to recall their previous training sessions, he realized he hadn't begun to teach her how to find fish to begin with. So that's what they could start today.
“I've been teaching you how to catch a fish, but not how to find one. In the smaller streams in our territory it's simpler to find fish because the water isn't so deep or so dark, so you can often use your eyes to spot them darting beneath the water's surface. But in the river it's different,” he paused to let that little bit of information sink in before continuing. He pointed with his muzzle out over the river, “I can't see any fish, can you?”
It was a rhetorical question. The river was dark, the current fast, churning and foaming white around rocks and logs and roots. You couldn't use your eyes to find fish in the river. Not directly, anyway. “You could walk the span of the river and try to find a spot where you can see some fish below, but that's a waste of time. RainClan cats know where the fish like to be, that's our real secret to fishing so successfully, and knowledge the other Clans will never have.”
Catching a fish was really a simple matter of patience and timing. Any cat could learn to do it. But knowing where to look? That was the knowledge RainClan guarded to so jealously. “Look around the river here. Tell me what you see. Tell me where you would be, if you were a fish, and why,” he told her. Understanding your prey made it much easier to hunt them. It was an important exercise to practice. In time, Fernpaw would be able to glance at the river before her and immediately pick out two or three decent spots to fish without even having to think about it.
There was the log a bit farther downstream, jutting out into the river, dead branches trailing in the water. It provided cover for the fish below, but also for the cat above. There was the bend in the river upstream, where the water deepened and pooled, and fish gathered to rest in the deeper waters. And there was also the cluster of rocks out in the middle of the river, that broke and slowed the current and swept the fish's prey right to them on the other side, but fishing while swimming was too advanced for Fernpaw, so they wouldn't be doing that just yet.
Everything is breaking, right before my eyes.
Looking in the mirror, I see someone that I don't recognize.
Taxx
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Post by Taxx on Oct 29, 2017 13:10:43 GMT -5
From the moment Rushwhisker began to speak, Fernpaw gave him all her attention, tail wrapping around her paws and blue eyes gazing at the tom. Of course, you had to know how to find a fish in order to catch a fish- they weren't just going to appear and let you snag them out of the water. She nodded frequently as her mentor spoke, and when he tipped his muzzle toward the water, she started to lean toward the water, to see if there were any fish lurking down there- but he was pushing on and she realized that he'd already known there weren't.
She shook her head anyway, to answer his question, but she didn't speak aloud, didn't interrupt as he continued. Apparently, there was a lot more to fishing than just diving in and going for it. Fish had hiding places? A blink as Rushwhisker once more directed her attention to the river, asking her to point out places a fish was likely to be- telling her to imagine herself as a fish. Fernpaw couldn't quite help a wrinkle of her nose at the thought, but she didn't voice her feelings on the matter, only rose to her paws and turned to the river.
Glancing up and down the stretch of water, a frown of concentration settled on her face. If she were a fish- where would she go to avoid the cat who might try to catch her? Her gaze was caught by a twig moving past, sweeping past her nose. "The water's quick here, and there's a lot of obstacles that would make it hard for a cat to fish." Her tail twitched and she continued her search, peering at the rock farther out, and then to the log reaching into the river, branches and leaves tugged downstream by the current. "Could a cat use that?" she asked, glancing back over her shoulder at Rushwhisker. "It reaches out farther than the bank."
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Post by Deleted on Oct 29, 2017 19:27:33 GMT -5
Enemies surround me but the worst appear as friends.
Liars and pretenders only seek to reach their ends...
Giving her time to think over the question, Rushwhisker watched the river flow by, Jade's question suddenly popping into his mind, asking him if he'd ever wondered where the river starts. It was strange that no cat in RainClan seemed very concerned about the answer to that question, considering how important the river was to the entire Clan. It was important to the entire valley, honestly, feeding streams that touched every Clan. His ears twitched as Fernpaw's voice brought him back to the current situation, but she wasn't quite done thinking, so he didn't speak yet.
He followed her gaze as she spoke of the log and stood, flicking her ear lightly with his tail, “A cat could use that, but you're still thinking from a cat's point of view, and that isn't what I asked.” It was a gentle chastisement. She was thinking, and that was the real point of the exercise. Even if her train of thought wasn't quite on the right track yet, it was getting there. He flicked his tail again, this time for her to follow him, “Understanding how your prey thinks will help you anticipate their actions and make you a more successful fisher, just as understanding your enemy will help you anticipate their actions in battle to avoid getting hurt and use their weaknesses to your advantage to win a fight.”
He had been leading her toward the log and paused at the base of the trunk to look back at her seriously, “It is important to expand the way you think, to be able to see things from different points of view, even that of a fish. Not only will this ability make you a better fisher and fighter, it will make you a better cat.” And StarClan knows RainClan could use all the good cats it could get, not that it deserved them. With that said, he turned his attention back to the log before them, “Fish like to hide under logs, especially when they still have trailing branches like this one. It gives them cover above and keeps predators like hawks and eagles from getting to them. But cats are a bit more clever.”
He turned to her again, for once a bit of humor warming his tone, if only briefly, before becoming serious once more, “However, fishing from a log like this is still tricky. You have to balance for one, and sometimes logs in the river are slippery. You have to keep your steps light while moving along it so you don't rustle it in the water and scare the fish below. And you have to aim even more carefully if there are branches you're trying to catch a fish between. It's much easier to fish beneath logs like this one by diving. You're not ready for either just yet, so let's move on.” He stood and took a step forward, but paused to look back at her, “Do you have any questions about anything I've told you so far?”
Everything is breaking, right before my eyes.
Looking in the mirror, I see someone that I don't recognize.
Taxx
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Post by Taxx on Oct 30, 2017 21:34:14 GMT -5
Fernpaw 7 Moons. She-Cat. RainClan.
Rushwhisker responded agreeably to her observations, but the light scolding that followed made her pelt prick with embarrassment. He was right, she had got too caught up in trying to think from a cat's point of view, rather than a fish's. How was she supposed to think like a fish anyway?
Rising at his beckon, Fernpaw followed as he started down the bank, her gaze flicking between the rushing water and her mentor as he spoke. She understood his reasoning behind the request but it was still something she'd have to work on. She halted with the tom at the base of the fallen tree, her gaze sweeping along the length of it and nodding.
She hadn't known fish could hide- that they had any more instinct than just swim and eat. Now that she did... hooking her claws into the ground, Fernpaw leaned forward, peering past the shadow the tree threw, trying to see any fish that might be lurking beneath.
She didn't see any- maybe they were hiding elsewhere. Glancing at Rushwhisker again, the young apprentice nodded, edging backward and turning to trail after him again, only to stop when he asked if she had questions. Well- yes, she did.
"I understand that thinking like a fish can be helpful in catching them, but how? What does a fish think about? Are they very clever?" Fernpaw was intrigued by the thought of imagining herself as another creature, but she pushed on, not voicing those thoughts.
"How will imagining myself as another creature make me a better cat? Prey is prey. Would thinking as a fox or badger make it easier to fight them?"
@zen ooc: sweetie |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 10, 2017 19:57:50 GMT -5
Enemies surround me but the worst appear as friends.
Liars and pretenders only seek to reach their ends...
Rushwhisker allowed his apprentice to finish voicing the whole of her questions before responding, taking them one at a time once it seemed she was done. “It's important not to underestimate others, prey included. Fish may be relatively simple creatures, but just like every other living thing, they have strong instincts to survive. When it comes to thinking like prey, you must ask yourself what you would do if you were one of them, if you had their skills and abilities, and were limited by what they can and cannot do in order to survive.”
He looked seriously down at her as he continued, “If you can understand your prey, understanding your fellow cat should come even easier to you, even cats from other Clans, or cats outside of the Clans. Misunderstanding each other is one of the reasons we fight. So if you can learn to understand other cats, learn to see things from different points of view that you might not otherwise see, you can prevent unnecessary violence between cats. Fighting should always, always be a last resort, Fernpaw.”
He turned back ahead, starting to walk on, “There's no reason we shouldn't be able to work together and support each other.” It took him a moment to remember she had asked about thinking like a badger or fox and he returned to answering her question, “Understanding your opponent will always make them easier to fight. You'll come to know how they prefer to attack so you can avoid those attacks, and how they defend themselves from attacks, so you can work around their defenses and find weaknesses in it.” His ears flicked back briefly, “This is the same for foxes and badgers as it is for cats... only you can't reason with foxes and badgers.”
He slowed his pace slightly to walk beside Fernpaw, looking down at her, “Fernpaw, I believe it is the duty of a mentor not just to teach a cat how to hunt and fight for the Clan, but also to help their apprentices be the best cat they can be. So I'm going to ask you difficult questions, and I'm going to try to make you think.... And I'm going to try to make sure that when you earn your warrior name, you are proud of the cat you've become, regardless of what any other cat might think of you.”
His eyes flashed with pain briefly before it was gone, “There is nothing more painful than betraying your own heart, even if cats around you, cats who care about you, tell you its the right thing to do. I hope you always stay true to yourself, Fernpaw, no matter where that leads you, and as long you're staying true to your heart, know that you'll always have my full support.”
He met the young she-cat's eyes for a moment longer before continuing on, his whiskers twitching in slight amusement, “I suppose we should try some actual fishing now, hm?” He flicked his tail toward the bend in the river and lead her over to it, “Fish tend to congregate in places where the river bends. The water carves out the river bed and makes for deep pools where they can hide... when they aren't closer to the surface trying to find food. If you're patient, they'll come close enough to the surface to catch every now and then.”
He sat at the edge of the bank, sweeping his tail beside him, silently indicating that she should join him the same way he had always asked Frozenpaw to join him. Once she had, he lowered his voice, “I'll go first, watch closely. Remember not to slap the water with an open paw when you got for a fish.” He demonstrated, lifting his paw to show her, “Keep your paw tight and go straight into the water, don't swipe or scoop until after your paw is in the water. It will make your strike quicker and minimize splashing. Once you've hooked your claws into a fish, try to pull it up and out of the water, directly onto shore, so it can't flail and alert more fish to your presence. That will keep their panic down and allow you to fish in the same place longer.”
He was silent for a time, then his paw darted out, entering the water smoothly and hooking a fish on his claws, drawing it out and flinging it behind him to the shore. He turned to end its life quickly before turning his attention back to Fernpaw, giving her a nod of encouragement, voice still soft, “The next one is yours.”
Everything is breaking, right before my eyes.
Looking in the mirror, I see someone that I don't recognize.
Taxx
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